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31 January 2017

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene, Prince Jacques, and Princess Gabriella joined in the ceremonies for the Feast of Sainte Dévote last week.

At first, I wondered if Princess Charlene had taken a dangerous step back to her days of blergh, where it seemed like her wardrobe was equally divided between beige and black and everything looked the same. *sighs deeply* *looks off into the distance* Those were dark days, my friends.

Then I saw the full length, and it turns out that she did not forget to add at least onefeature of interest to her ensemble. I, unlike many of you, quite enjoy a funky hem situation, and this Akris number is getting there. Anyway, who's looking at the outfits on the balcony when those two cheeky munchkins are involved, right? Save it up for the cathedral appearance. I suppose I can't argue with that strategy. (It's not really an argument to recommend a proper color for next time, is it?)

30 January 2017

King Felipe and Queen Letizia hosted a reception for foreign ambassadors last week.

Another daytime long dress occasion, another repeat for Letizia. That tends to be the way she works these things. She wore this Felipe Varela dress to the same event back in 2013 with her hair down. I don't need to tell you that I celebrate the addition of an updo this time around. That's what I have my #TeamUpdo shirt for.

House of HM the King

You know what this dress reminds me of? Crown Princess Mary's recent Etro dress. (Sure, you nod, if by "reminds me of" you mean "is completely different from".) See, Mary's dress did the architectural thing with its print; Letizia's does it with its lace. It builds cornices across the top and trims out the sides and bottom, with a medallion plonked right in the center. My only hesitation here is that the variation between lace with and without the red fabric behind it is a little distracting. OR IS IT? You tell me.

We won’t have a Tidbits post/open post this week. I want to take a moment and refresh the blog’s commenting policy instead. I aim to keep the rules for comments short and easy to understand. I’ll spell them out in a second, but they all boil down to an understanding of the spirit of the blog.

“Purely frivolous and perfectly harmless snark and admiration for all things stylish and royal,” that’s our motto. This place is intended to be an escape, a space in which you can relax and enjoy some frivolous commentary on outfits and jewels, maybe laugh a little bit while you’re at it. We all have more weighty issues on our minds, and that’s exactly why I believe it’s important to preserve a few precious pockets of fun for ourselves. Don’t we all need a little distraction sometimes?

Accordingly, these are the rules for comments:

Equal opportunity praise and friendly snark shall be offered up here. If you find that your personal feeling of dislike towards any of these public figures is so strong you can’t avoid it, you need to find another outlet for your hate. Likewise, if you can’t stand any level of critique for your favorite royal and thus feel the need to go after any commenter who doesn’t lavish praise on your fave, you need to find another outlet for that crusade.

Treat each other as friends. You don't have to agree with me or with other commenters, but you do have to be civil. Attacks are not welcome. I'll also drop a reminder here that you can make your point without purposefully aggravating or scolding your fellow commenters.

No weight discussions (in either scale direction), no plastic surgery speculation, and no pregnancy speculation, please. Because all of these tend to turn discussions into something contrary to the spirit of the blog.

No politics. This includes off topic discussion of the fashion of public figures related to politics. The exceptions to this rule are events directly involving political figures, such as state visits (where their fashion is occasionally discussed), and situations in which politics gives necessary context to a royal event. (Still, that last one is pretty rare, given that we focus on the fashions and the jewels.)

Please stay on topic. We have a home for off topic chatter, such as royal events that aren’t being covered on the main blog, and that home is our weekly Tidbits post. Please do not change the topic on other posts.

Comments that are not in this spirit, as determined by me, will be deleted at my discretion. Commenters that can not comply with these guidelines time and again will be banned from commenting on this site. This includes commenters that know better and persist in pushing the rules anyway.

The request to avoid politics has become a bit of a sticking point in the weekly Tidbits conversation over the past few months, for some of you that enjoy using that post as a personal chat room each week. Without making a mountain out of a molehill, I just wanted to take this opportunity to clarify and reiterate the commenting policy. Sometimes the conversations in Tidbits stray away from the topic of this blog – royal fashion and jewels – and maybe that makes it easy to forget that this is still a blog with a specific focus, rather than a private personal forum, and that’s why moderation and commenting rules still apply.

I feel very lucky and very proud that we have such an active and kind group of commenters. I’m honored that so many of you have found a community here. I want that to continue, and I appreciate your help in making that happen. Thank you!

26 January 2017

Princess Caroline - who celebrated her 60th birthday this week - is usually referred to here in her capacity as a member of the princely family of Monaco. She is also the Princess of Hanover courtesy of her marriage to Prince Ernst August, current head of the House of Hanover. And while Caroline's favorite pick for a tiara is the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara from her Monaco family, she's also worn Hanover tiaras.

In 2004, the couple attended the wedding celebrations of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. For the pre-wedding gala performance, Princess Caroline chose to wear this large diadem from the House of Hanover, which has a natural floral diamond design and dates perhaps from the 19th century. She paired it with diamond floral earrings and a sprawling brooch clipped to her neckline, both pieces from her own collection.

The tiara was previously worn by Ernst August's first wife, Chantal. (So some considered this tiara a juicy choice for Caroline, Caroline's relationship with Ernst August having begun before his marriage to her friend Chantal was over.) It also wasn't the only Hanover tiara Caroline selected for the Danish royal wedding trip; for the wedding itself, she wore the Brunswick Tiara, a diadem that had been unseen in decades.

25 January 2017

Three cheers for Denmark, who kicked off the royal state visits of 2017 extra early this year by welcoming the President of Iceland yesterday. Three cheers and four tiaras, because state visits mean state banquets:

Queen Margrethe (Prince Henrik was also present, though not pictured here)

Queen Margrethe wore the golden Naasut Tiara for the second time, along with its accompanying earrings. The set was a gift from Greenland for her 40th jubilee in 2012, making it a very geographically appropriate pick for the evening. I find that I have the same issue with this tiara as I have with Sweden's Cut Steel Tiara: I think it would be better paired with other metal pieces or with opaque stones, rather than diamonds and other sparkling gems. (Sash check: Queen Margrethe and the rest of the Danish royal family are wearing the blue sash of Iceland's Order of the Falcon.)

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary

Crown Princess Mary sure does like her new Diamond, Ruby, and Spinel Necklace Tiara, huh? (Is it possible that I'm starting to miss her Wedding Tiara? Surely not...) Anyway, she brought back an old Oscar de la Renta tiered skirt
and paired it with a lace top, a contrast in textures that I can't quite
love.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie

I'd like a chance to get to miss Princess Marie's Diamond Floral Tiara, but no such chance has been provided. Her dress is tremendously sparkly and also a little confusing; I think what first appeared as the most ineffectual peplum of all time is part of a tiered skirt situation, but it was hard to tell even in motion. Hmm. (Ineffectual Peplum, by the way, is my new band name.)

Princess Benedikte

I may have saved the best for last here, because Princess Benedikte is probably my pick for the evening's best dressed. Sporting Queen Sophia's Star and Pearl Tiara, her red dress picked up on the small red and white stripe running down the side of her Icelandic sash. The perfect touch to tie the whole thing together, no?

24 January 2017

A solid working outfit, with the typical Mary addition of some subtle color interest in the accessories (her purse, which isn't shown here, matched her shoes). The question: blouse sleeves below jacket sleeves, yay or nay? Usually a nay for me, and yet maybe they're the right touch for this outfit.

The Countess of Wessex attended an engagement on her 52nd birthday last week.

The dress, I love - edging toward a polka dot print, just a little bit playful. The question, though, is the layer on top: a simple cardigan, yay or nay? It's maybe a bit too casual for me, even on an outfit that's not terribly formal in the first place.

Such crucial questions, I know. Really the weight of the world resting on this stuff. Be sure to weigh in.

23 January 2017

--Sweden's Princess Birgitta celebrated her 80th birthday with a party at Drottningholm Palace. The royal court released a photo of Birgitta with her siblings (Princess Margaretha, Princess Désirée, Princess Christina, and King Carl Gustaf) for the occasion, and you know I'm loving the balance of purple.

--Sad news from Luxembourg last week: Prince Louis and Princess Tessy are divorcing after 10 years of marriage. Louis is the third child of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa; he and Tessy married several months after the birth of their first son, Gabriel. They later had a second son, Noah. [Wort]

--Celebs, meet the royals: King Philippe met with Matt Damon (who advocates for access to safe water and sanitary facilities for all), while Queen Mathilde met with Shakira (a UN Special Advocate), at the World Economic Forum. [Twitter]

...can turn into a world of NOPE by the time you finish scrolling. This is where people like to jump in and say but she's on trend!, as though being trendy automatically means that the outfit is well executed, and I'm gonna argue here that this is just not a great adaptation of the whole cropped pant + boot thing. The length of the pant leg and the height of the boot fight with each other when she moves; either the pant gets caught on the boot, or you can see just a sliver of leg underneath, which feels unintentional. If she was going for seamless, she needed a taller boot. Or, you know, to wear these pieces in an entirely different fashion. That would've worked too.

19 January 2017

This tiara, with diamond scrolls topped by single pearls, is one of the more recognizable pieces belonging to the Kent branch of the British royal family. How it came to be in the Kent family is not precisely known; it belonged to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (1906-1968), who received jewels from her husband, the Duke of Kent (son of King George V and Queen Mary) and had jewels both inherited and gifted from her many royal relations. These included jewels left to Marina by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) on her death in 1939. The tiara probably dates from around 1900 and though it rests in a case from Cartier, Tiaras: A History of Splendour notes that it may not actually be a Cartier creation.

Princess Marina

Princess Marina wore the tiara regularly, including at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and it was briefly worn by her daughter, Princess Alexandra. She left the tiara to her youngest son, Prince Michael, and it is now worn by his wife, Princess Michael (Marie Christine). The current row of pearls at the base has been added while the tiara's been in their possession, nicely echoing the pearls that top the tiara.

Princess Michael has made this one of her signature pieces. Prince and Princess Michael are often attendees at state banquets and from time to time have stepped in as the Queen's representatives for the traditional gala Guildhall banquet that takes place during state visits; with those appearances plus portraits, the tiara is worn regularly. It's a tall tiara - one that Princess Michael showcases extremely well - and it just might be my favorite Kent diadem.

18 January 2017

Accessories that pick up a non-dominant color from your print? Whaddya know, my matchy line remains blissfully uncrossed. A commitment to interest in accessories: that's a New Year's resolution I can get behind.

13 January 2017

The Duchess of Cambridge undertook a couple engagements earlier this week.

So you've got your future Royal Coat Museum, and then you've got your future Royal Blue Museum just up the road. You can visit them both...or just permanently take up residence right between the two, your choice. It's a good blue - as I always say - though I will raise my contrarian hand and say the blue shoes are crossing the matchy line for me. (My matchy line being a lot closer than most matchy lines, you know.)

12 January 2017

The Danish Ruby Parure is, at this point in time, basically guaranteed at least one appearance per year: Crown Princess Mary wears it to the annual New Year’s gala banquet. She’ll wear it in portraits and for select other occasions – jubilee and birthday celebrations for her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe; certain royal weddings – but uses other tiaras for the rest of her gala needs. Having just seen our scheduled 2017 ruby outing, it’s the perfect time to revisit this impressive set of jewelry and the impressive history behind it.

The Danish Ruby Parure Tiara

This tiara tale begins, like many others, at the court of Napoleon Bonaparte. When planning his coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804, he wanted to ensure that it would be the grandest possible event. He went so far as to give money to his marshals so that they could buy their wives the proper amount of jewels for the occasion. One of those men, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, bought a set of ruby and diamond jewelry for his wife, Désirée Clary, and she wore it on that historical day. This couple would later become King Carl XIV Johan and Queen Desideria of Sweden, and the jewels found a new Swedish home.

In the modern history of this parure, it is so well associated with Queen Ingrid of Denmark (who was born a Princess of Sweden, and who wore this set frequently) that many assume it made the trip from Sweden to Denmark along with the rest of Ingrid's wedding gifts. In fact it came over much earlier, with another Swedish princess that became a Danish queen: Queen Louise, who married the future Frederick VIII in 1869. Louise received the parure as a wedding gift from her grandmother, Queen Josephine of Sweden (Désirée's daughter-in-law), because the rubies and diamonds echoed the colors of the Danish flag. Queen Louise gave the headpiece to her son Crown Prince Christian's bride Alexandrine as a wedding gift, and she received the rest when Louise passed away. It was Alexandrine that gave it to Princess Ingrid of Sweden when she married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 1935.

Queen Ingrid, before and after her tiara changes

As with most jewels this old, alterations have been made over the years. The most extensive remodeling has been done to the tiara, which wasn’t even a tiara to begin with. It started as a series of individual floral ornaments; these were later assembled into a slender wreath tiara, as seen on Queen Alexandrine and on Queen Ingrid when she first received the ruby set. Ingrid turned it into something more in 1947 by taking two of the brooches that came with the initial parure and adding them to the tiara, giving it much more substance and turning it into a proper diadem that still had a lovely wreath structure from the random placement of the leaves.

Crown Princess Mary in the tiara before her changes

When Queen Ingrid died in 2000 she left the parure to her beloved grandson, Crown Prince Frederik, thereby ensuring that the future Crown Princess would have a truly grand and historical set of jewels to wear. Mary wore this tiara for two of her pre-wedding events in 2004, making it the first tiara she ever wore.

Mary's changes

Mary followed in Ingrid’s footsteps by wearing the ruby set as it came to her for several years, and then having it altered to suit her own needs. In consultation with Crown Prince Frederik and Queen Margrethe, she had the tiara reconfigured and added extra flexibility to the rest of the set. This work was done by Dulong Fine Jewelry.

Video: The ruby set under construction

Mary’s version of the tiara sits more upright on her head and feels more symmetrical and compact than Ingrid’s did; the alteration left a few leaves behind, and these extras were turned into a set of hairpins. She first wore the new tiara setting in 2010.

The hairpins, earrings, ring, and necklace

The full Danish Ruby Parure now includes the tiara, the hairpins, a magnificent pair of girandole earrings which can be worn in several formats (as just the ruby and diamond studs, the studs with one of the ruby and diamond pendants, or the studs with a few different pearl drop options), a grand necklace that can be worn with or without its various pendant attachments, a brooch with a detachable pendant (the pendant can be used on a necklace chain; the brooch has been worn in various positions including on a velvet choker and has been worn with a pearl drop), a bracelet, and a ring (a new addition, made by the Dulong firm).

2010: Mary in the remodeled tiara and the ruby and diamond studs from the earrings worn with pearls

Queen Ingrid tended to wear the whole ruby set at once, which is a grand but imposing amount of bling to add to an outfit. Crown Princess Mary started out wearing all the pieces at once, but she hasn’t worn it that way since she altered the tiara, preferring these days to pick and choose among the various pieces. I may miss the more natural feel of Ingrid’s tiara format and I may miss seeing the whole parure worn at once, but I can’t deny that Mary's changes have led to her using the set more creatively and to her using parts of the set without the tiara more frequently. She seems more comfortable with it, and this is all good stuff. Like I’ve said before: a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Yesterday, Crown Princess Mary was awarded the Berlingske Foundation Prize in recognition of the work she has done for Danish society.

So, basically, in a sea of Etro outfits that range from boho to boho-ier (that's not right), Mary manages to find the one that makes her look like she's just tastefully adorned herself in some spare crown moulding. From her tasteful palace. Where she tastefully lives. Yup, seems about right.

And is it just me or did she put a little extra bounce in her hair for the big day? (It was a big day, too; this is an important Danish newspaper honoring her for the great job she does.) The whole thing's working for her.

10 January 2017

On Friday, Queen Letizia closed out what I like to call Court Dress Week by attending Pascua Militar, a military ceremony. Similar to the two days of Danish New Year receptions, this event calls for a long skirt worn in the daytime.

I think she might be in a bit of a slump with this dress code, honestly. She debuted this Felipe Varela dress in 2014 at a reception for foreign ambassadors, and then wore it again to this event in 2015. (And the outfit we saw in between - last year - was pretty meh.) I'll be the first to admit that outfits for these events are a specialized category these days, and repeating just makes sense. But there are still ways to mix it up within the land of repeats, you know?

House of HM the King

(On the other hand, I will never object to classing things even further up with a good updo.)

The cape worn by Crown Princess Mary to the New Year gala banquet - which looked out of place atop her regal gold Jesper Høvring gown - is much more at home atop its matching dress, giving a simple dress that extra something special to make it suit this daytime court event. It's a plum dream by Lasse Spangenberg (h/t to Heaven). Well. Turns out all you need to do to restore my cape love is to put that cape back where it belongs.

05 January 2017

Princess Alexandra of Kent celebrated her 80th birthday on Christmas Day! Queen Elizabeth II honored her cousin back in November at a Buckingham Palace reception for Princess Alexandra's patronages and other areas of work. We have a more sparkly way to celebrate here (obviously), because such a lengthy history of royal engagements is bound to include several tiaras. A tiara retrospective, coming right up:

Queen Mary's Diamond Bandeau

In 1955 with her mother, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. See video here.British Pathé

Princess Alexandra started attending royal events early on. She used a couple of smaller tiaras first, like this diamond bandeau that came from Queen Mary. The bandeau ended up with the Duke and Duchess of Kent (Alexandra's older brother and sister-in-law), and it was most likely redesigned into the Kent Diamond and Pearl Fringe Tiara.

The Diamond and Pearl Swirl Bandeau

This piece dates back to Grand Duchess Vladimir (yes,that Grand Duchess Vladimir), who was Princess Marina's grandmother. It served as a smaller tiara option for both Princess Marina and her daughter, but has since been sold.

Princess Alexandra's royal tours started in her early 20s. Here, marking independence in Nigeria, she borrows her mother's pearl and diamond festoon tiara; this tiara is now with Prince and Princess Michael (Alexandra's younger brother and sister-in-law).

Finally, we arrive at the only tiara we see Princess Alexandra wear today. She gets three tiaras out of that one: the center of the flowers can be changed from pearls to sapphires or turquoise stones. (Bonus tiara, sort of: Alexandra wore these flowers in her hair in tiara fashion before the rest of the tiara.) She's still a regular attendee at state banquets, always wearing this tiara, though sadly we don't often get to see her at those events.

Video: A great look at the Ogilvy Tiara in action, 1965. Princess Alexandra arrives at 1:18.

There are two days of New Year receptions for various groups in Denmark, and the formal dress code means that Crown Princess Mary has several outfits in her closet tailored to this event. (It's a modern court dress, really, where a long skirt is needed - but because these are daytime events, there are no tiaras and many evening gowns don't fit the bill.) One of my favorites was this silvery blue number with a short jacket from Heartmade, first worn in 2008 and repeated again in 2010, 2012, and 2013.

...she revealed a remodeled version with the top swapped out for a soft blue blouse and no jacket. I'm not gonna lie, I have some mixed feelings about seeing a personal favorite subjected to the scissors, but it does look excellent this way too. I'm just also hoping that it can still be worn the other way, or at least with a different top and the three-quarter sleeve jacket again.

01 January 2017

Happy New Year! We're here to start things off as we always do: with tiaras, courtesy of glittering New Year events in Denmark and Japan. A gala banquet in Denmark is one of the most formal events of the year for the Danish royal family, where they wear the golden collars of the Order of the Elephant. In Japan, the imperial family gathers for a formal reception, and it's tiaras all around for everyone. We'll start our awards in Denmark:

Queen Margrethe always arrives to the New Year banquet in a flurry of fabric and jewels, with her trademark Yeti pelt fur wrap swinging. This year was all of that times ten, because her gown - a repeat from her 70th birthday celebrations - ended up looking like she was wearing two gowns at once under that wrap.

Crown Princess Mary opted to start the new year by testing my love of capes. This is the first time we've seen her Jesper Høvring gown in action (she wore it in a portrait last year), and it is a golden dream, very swoopy and grand in motion. (Check out video of the royal family's arrival here or here.) I'm just afraid it's being let down by the cape, which doesn't feel magnificent enough to go with this gown.

DR

I'm with her on the rest of it, though: the Danish Ruby Parure with the full version of the earrings, the hair pins in back, and the brooch used at her neckline. Fabulous.

I couldn't believe it when Princess Marie got out of the car: could she really be wearing a simple, slinky metallic sheath? She usually adds some froof to the equation. And so she had and I just didn't see it right away, in the form of a ruffle at the side of this new Ole Yde gown.

DR

The ruffle is subtle, and the bronze color makes an excellent showcase for her golden collar. Her Diamond Floral Tiara is never a bad idea. I think this might be her best New Year outing in quite some time.